Spartacus: An unprecedented upheaval

The Bolshoi's signature ballet, Spartacus, encores on Sunday at Palace Cineplex.

In ancient Rome, Spartacus, a Thracian king, is turned captive by Crassus with his wife, Phrygia. Forced to fight as a gladiator and kill one of his friends, Spartacus plots an unprecedented upheaval.

Grigorovich's Spartacus was created at the Bolshoi in 1968 and has since remained the Russian company's signature ballet. This most spectacular production is an epic tour de force, giving full expression to the virility and strength for which the Bolshoi's male dancers are renowned.

Principal dancer Mikhail Lobukhin is stunning in the role of the legendary gladiator, along with Svetlana Zakharova as Aegina and Vladislav Lantratov as Crassus.